THE NEW MAN I – Sunday April 10th 2016

Memorise: Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are

passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2nd
Corinthians 5:17

Read: Romans 12:1-2, 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your reasonable service.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and
acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Bible in one year; 1st Samuel 24-25, Proverbs 8:1-21

One of the basic signs of
redemption in the life of a man is the newness of the life that he lives. This
change of his spiritual living standard is never covert; rather, it is always
obvious. When Zacchaeus, the publican, encountered Jesus in Jericho, his life
never remained the same. A notoriously corrupt tax collector said:

“Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Luke
19:8

The memory verse for today
corroborates the story in the above quoted scripture. Indeed, if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature; old things must pass away. Today, it is a
different ball-game; people seem to maintain the status quo of their past lives
even after their claims of a born-again experience. The thief still steals yet
he claims to be born-again. The adulterous woman who succeeded in snatching
another woman’s legally and scripturally wedded husband, lives comfortably with
the man, speaking in “tongues”

John the Baptist, when addressing
those who decided to follow godliness by coming for his baptism, encouraged
them to bear fruits that met with genuine repentance, and take a total
turn-around from past sinful living. The Bible says

“But
when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath
to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.”

Matthew
3:7-8

The above scripture is a food for
thought: the religious leaders of John the Baptist’s time humbled themselves to
come for baptism in order to usher in a new more of spiritual revival. This is
a lesson for those who are claiming to have risen through the ranks and files
of established Churches to seek spiritual reawakening. This may also account
for many older generations embracing the Pentecostal experience. This is very
good provided they also “bring forth fruits meet for repentance”, not
maintaining the status-quo of their highly esteemed positions in their (former)
Churches without transformation. The cry of the regenerative Spirit is change!

You may need to change your
friends, eating and dressing habits to be able to conform to the image of the
Son of the Living God.

Action Point

Look at your past life in comparison with your newly found faith in
Christ and effect necessary changes.